shape') German schaffen ('to shape'), Geschöpf ('creature'). hacod: 'mullet'. The OED lists hacod/haked as a dialectal name for a large pike and has a citation as late as 1847, but it is not listed in any modern dictionary. 'Mullet' was borrowed into Middle English, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is probably akin to haca ('hook'). Compare with modern English hake, Dutch heek ('hake'), German Hechte ('esox'). hæferblǣte: 'bittern'. 'Bittern' entered Middle English around 1000 as botor which was borrowed from Old French butor. higera: 'jay'. The Old French word jai was borrowed into Middle English around 1310. The AHD states that it may come from the Latin forename Gaius, but it gives no reason for the semantic change. The OED does not address the Gaius theory, only stating that it cannot be identified with Old French gai ('gay'). It instead acknowledges, that it is from Old High German gâhi ('swift', 'quick', 'lively') without mentioning the likelihood. Compare with German Häher. hwilpe: 'curlew'. The Middle English form curleu was borrowed from Old French courlieu, which may be onomatopoeic. The OED also believes that it is probably onomatopoeic, but notes that it was assimilated with courlieu, curleu ('courier'), which is ultimately from Latin currere ('to run'). iht: 'creature'. (See gesceap.) lēafwyrm: 'caterpillar', literally 'leaf-worm', 'leaf insect'. Webster's Dictionary (1897) lists 'leaf-worm' as "a caterpillar that devours leaves", but no modern dictionaries list it. The cawel in cawelwyrm was a loan from Latin caulis ('cabbage') and it was last attested around 1000, as cawelwurm. Mælsceafa ('caterpillar') is attested as far back as Old English (around 1000 in the writings of Ælfric) and as late as 1398, as malshaue. Mæl (meaning roughly 'meal' as in 'mealworm') is attested only in the compound mælsceafa, but it has many well-documented cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Old Icelandic and Swedish. The second component shares its root with 'shave'. The ultimately Latin-derived caterpillar was first borrowed into English around 1440 as catyrpel. mǣlsceafa: 'caterpillar'. (See lēafwyrm). Compare with Dutch meelworm (meel = flour, which it likes to eat and can be found in). mereswīn: 'dolphin', 'porpoise', literally 'sea-swine'. It is attested in Bald's Leechbook from the 10th century. The OED does not list 'mereswine' as archaic or obsolete, but the last citation given is by Frank Charles Bowen in his Sea Slang: a Dictionary of the Old-timers' Expressions and Epithets (1929). The OED lists sea-swine ('porpoise')